Chapter 1. - Questions.

Like a cat, Dante landed on his feet as a cascade of bullet shells came raining down, Ebony and Ivory were glowing red as he turned around to fire another hell storm of bullets towards the creature they'd been hunting for over a week.

"HEY VINCE!" he shouted, panting from exhaustion. "Would you do the honor?"

Vincent didn't reply, but his eyes said more than words could speak. Like a rocket he jumped up, leaving a small crater of concrete, and debree. His crimson coat danced in the air as he turned upside down, kicking away from the roof, to be sent flying like a torpedo towards the fiend. As he was going, his left arm reached for the "Riot", strapped to his back. He fired once, the creature roared in pain, The second bullet came not long after, hitting the monster just below the torso. "It is close enough now" Vincent thought, raising his arm guard. Less than a second from impact he holstered his weapon. There was no turning back now, The creature, wounded but still not immobilized swung at him with its massive, right arm claw. Sparks flew as it hit the arm guard, leaving Vincent the opening he had hoped for. He grabbed the creatures right arm and bent it backwards as he flew over its shoulders. He turned around in the air, and landed facing its back, still holding the clawed arm as if his hand was a vise. Upon touchdown he clapped his heels together. The crescent blades, attached to the front of his boots became visible, and in one motion he slit the beasts Achilles-tendons, continuing the kick up towards the shoulder of the grabbed arm. A loud snap followed by a horrible shriek... Then silence...

Vincent looked at the bloody arm he held in his hand. Dante approached with a big smile on his face.

"You never stop surprising me, Vince." He said. "That sure was original."

Vincent clapped his heels together once again, and the crescent blades disappeared.

"Good job." He mumbled, as he dropped the arm.

The beast lay face down in a pool of its own blood. Its left arm twitched a little. Dante gave it a soft kick.

"Good job indeed" He said. "This one was a real pain in the ass... Bigger than the others. Now lets bring it "home."Perhaps its the key to finding out what the hell has been going on lately. I haven't seen this much activity in almost two years. Something is going on, and if we are to be able to prevent shit from hitting the fan, we need to know what it is that attracts them to this city."

Vincent gave Dante a nod.

"True that." He said. "You go on ahead, I have something i need to do."

Dante looked down.

"You always have something you need to do." He snorted. "And I always have to do the follow up work.We've been on this together for almost one year now, and sometimes you still feel like a total stranger."

As he looked up, Vincent was gone. Clearly not happy about it, Dante bagged up the creature and dragged it out of the old concrete building, that looked like it once may have served as an industrial storage house. Had it still been in use, someone would for sure have been fired the following day, for let it be known that this warehouse would never store anything again. Not even down and out homeless would seek refuge in a wind tunnel like this poor proof of cheap concrete mixture had become. A trace of blood led from the smashed up entrance to Dantes bike. While he carefully strapped the bag to the back of the bike, he couldn't but think about all the nights Vincent had just done his "thing", and left. It irritated him...alot. Why should he always be the one to be left behind doing all the dirty work. Even though he had been working solo up until just about a year ago, and should be used to it he couldn't help feeling just a little bit let down. When one became two, the work should also be shared equally. The anger was also amplified by Dantes curiosity. Never did Vincent speak of why he "oh so sudden" had to leave. Never did he tell what he'd been doing. He just came and went as he pleased.Dante punched the bag once before he got up on his motorbike. Just to check if the creature really was dead... But also because of his thoughts at the time. "Freggin' lazy ass Vincent!" The tires screeched as he took off.

Vincent sat on one of the carved gargoyle heads sticking out of the church tower, Sitting there, he pretty much looked like an extension of the statue.His coat created a vivid shadow play on the tower wall, as the weak, flickering light from cars and apartment buildings below struck his figure. He looked out over the moonlit city. Vincent hadn't forgotten his mission. Ever since she disappeared again, he had been searching. His searching had taken him far from Midgaard. He felt foolish, leaving her again once he had found her. But the threat to Midgaard had been to great at that time, and he felt he had to help his friends. But returning from the battle, he had found the cave where he left his love, empty.

Not even long enough to celebrate the victory had he stayed. That same night he set out towards the horizon. No good byes. Sometimes he thought about them though. Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and the others. Deep down inside he missed them too. But his current task was far more important than anything. Even hunting demons with Dante. However, vague memories about his love speaking of a man half devil, half human had made him somewhat convinced that he might be able to find clues about her whereabouts through sticking around. All he could do was hope, and for the time being, he had no other strings to play.

He stood up.

"Let's mosey." He thought to himself, and took off into the night.